The built environment, bus routes and bus ridership: multi-level analysis for the Buffalo area

Abstract To prioritize public transit and make it more appealing, particularly in mid-sized cities on the rustbelt, it is essential to understand how the built environment affects transit ridership. Although many studies have looked at factors that influence ridership, there's still a need for a methodological design that considers both route and environment characteristics for bus ridership. This study examined daily ridership of 3,794 bus stops across 57 routes in Erie County, New York, and used random coefficients models to account for different levels of characteristics (bus-stop-level, route-level, and Transportation Analysis Zone (TAZ)-level). The study found that bus frequency was positively correlated with ridership, while total route stops had a negative effect. By controlling for the impact of bus routes, the study showed that the multi-level design using random coefficients models was more effective than traditional models in quantifying the impact of bus routes and TAZs. These findings provide local policy implications for route design, bus operation, and transit resource allocation, especially for mid-size cities that experienced urban sprawl.